Kyle Hall - Kaychunk / You Know What I Feel

Kyle Hall - Kaychunk / You Know What I FeelThere's a video floating around right now of Kyle Hall abusing an Akai MPC, and it paints a pretty clear picture of exactly where the young producer is coming from. Bobbing frenziedly over the unit while his osteopath looks on in terror, Hall pops to and from hip-hop tempo rhythms and turntable manipulation with the vigor and zest of a debut DMC entrant. It's a striking display of dexterity. But it's perhaps most telling when you clock his body language: Kyle Hall has music inside of him—it needs to get out. And on Kaychunk / You Know What I Feel—Hall's second appearance for Kode9's Hyperdub imprint—that compulsion manifests itself in 140 BPM UK-drenched bass music.

A-side "Kaychunk" takes off like the 21.45 from Heathrow to Detroit Metro. There's an interesting division of labour which sees the UK connection tend to matters of drums and bass, and the US concern itself with everything in the golden mid-range. Roughly treated white-noise hats account for much of the rhythmic legwork, and in addition to a giddy kick pattern, are joined by a satisfyingly squared-off bass refrain. Meanwhile, a blanket of melodic curios is thrown over this framework, which includes all manner of sun-drenched pads and a gradually uncurling arpeggio.

By this point you're pretty much ensnared in Hall's honey trap of cross genre pollination, but "You Know What I Feel" only serves to strengthen the sentiment. Slightly more wistful in its approach, the track sports gentle tide-like chords and a muffled kick/tom interchange that sits about a quarter-inch from your face in terms of the mix. A nice addition in this case is an indistinguishable vocodered vocal and busy circuit-bent synth blasts, slotting freely into Hyperdub's loose sonic aesthetic, while imparting Hall's own take on the burgeoning UK scene. Be it house, dubstep, hip-hop or techno, it feels as though any fruit is ripe for KMFH's picking in 2010.